Challenges

Are You Still Checking Out?

Have you bought into the idea or the story that says, “I’ve had a bad day, I need to check out for a bit.” “I’ve had a bad week, I deserve to go have a drink?” “I’ve had the best week ever, but it was really stressful, I need to just go away for a few days.” Have you said these words to your self already in the last few weeks? If so I have a challenge for you: to take on a new way of thinking this year and to develop some new actions.

What is your “go to” when you want to check out? Is it the healthiest way to take some time off from your life? If it’s not the healthiest, why isn’t it the healthiest? You love yourself, right? You want to feel good about yourself right? So let’s begin to look at how you can “check out” for an hour or a weekend and make it the healthiest choice for you.

It will come as no surprise to you that alcohol is the number one choice for people in the United States to use to “get away”, “check out”, “take a break”, from their busy, very stressful, and sometimes very negative lives. My personal belief is that alcohol is doing more harm than good when it comes to the natural human body we all live in. People also use television, the internet, exercise (which can be a healthy choice depending on how you are using it), drugs, sex, reading, shopping (spending money you may or may not have), self-help organizations (AA, OA, NA etc. these organizations can become addictions as people reach for them just like they reached for the alcohol, food or drug of choice), relationships, and the list can go on.

The Challenge should you choose to accept it: If you use any of the things above to check out of your life on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, begin February with a new plan. Come up with something else that is healthier for you when you need a break. Some of those things are meditation, journaling, taking a walk, a spa day, a massage, reading a book mindfully, a weekend away at a retreat center, calling a friend up and meeting for coffee or tea. There are many ways to check out that are healthy and actually restore your energy and reset your mind from stressful to calm.

It takes courage to break from the pack, it takes courage to be you in your life, with no excuses.

I’m not saying never use alcohol again or any of the other things that I listed. I am saying, however, mindfully take time, don’t mindlessly check out.